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According to the World Health Organzation (WHO), around six million people are infected with Chagas disease worldwide.

Dr. Ester Cerdeira Sabino, who co-led the study, said that the disease has lifelong consequences if left untreated. “What the parasite does to the body takes a long time; (it) slowly goes into the heart and destroys it. We have measured accurately the risk of death, (as) a lot of mortality data doesn’t account for Chagas.”

The researchers stress that antiparasitic drugs are available and have 100-percent efficacy if taken as early as possible.